Sep 23 // Mike Martin

Sep 23 // Rey Gutierrez
What they say. Set eight months after the end of Halo 4, Halo 5: Guardians dives into the intrigue surrounding the Master Chief as he breaks away from the UNSC to uncover the truth of inexplicable events. Close on his heels, Spartan Locke, a legendary manhunter with Fireteam Osiris and a rising new star in the UNSC, is hunting the Master Chief to find answers of his own. Experience the most dramatic Halo story to date in a 4-player cooperative epic that spans three incredible worlds and a galaxy of war with itself. Halo 5: Guardians is evolving. What Rey & Kayla Like Visually, the game is vibrant. It's full of color pops, explosions, and beautifully rendered characters and textures. Takes full advantage of the Xbox One. Jumping and climbing/clambering allows you to explore new heights, gain better vantage points on enemies, and discover hidden skulls and terminals more easily than ever before. Your days spending 45 minutes trying to glitch jump that rock wall are pretty much over! Spartan Charge introduces a new melee mechanic. It allows you to break through certain walls and structures, sometimes as part of the storyline, sometimes on your own exploration to discover hidden rooms and pathways. Spartan Charge also acts as a one-hit shield breaker on enemies, amplifying close-quarters combat. Revive and Tracking, new abilities specifically for Campaign, allow you to call for help or aid fallen teammates, and always know where your objective is (which I ended up using quite a bit, due to the world feeling much more open and expansive). Listening to the Covenant chatter is always amusing. I spent more time trolling a Grunt waiting to hear what he has to say about the Master Chief, than actually following the campaign mission. Halo veterans may find the new 60fps off putting by removing the cinematic immersion of Halo (or junk in the trunk), but after getting acclimated -- Halo 5 is smooth, easy on the eyes and just pure joy to control, especially on the Xbox One’s controller, and fantastic use of the Rumbling Triggers. What Rey & Kayla Dislike Watching Master Chief take a knee and request assistance from a squad mate when he’s down will take some getting use to. It reeks more of Gears of War than a new gameplay enhancement. The all-knowing and all-seeing AI favorite, Cortana, has been replaced with a Master Chief who uncharacteristically talks too much. Your fireteam AI (Blue Team: Kelly-087, Fred-104, Linda-058) and fireteam Osiris are nonexistent for the most part and operate autonomously. They’ll aimlessly follow you around and partake in the firefight with generic “bro-chatter” that you’d hear in a Call of Duty game, and not nearly as witty, random, or entertaining as a UNSC Marine. But you can give your fireteam contextual commands like “Go To Location, Attack My Target, Use Turret or Vehicle,” even if they’re acting more like distractions or decoy for enemies. “Run and gun” is not a recommended strategy. Keeping an eye on your ammo (there's never enough ammo), bouncing around high vantage points (Ground Pound) to avoid enemies, and remembering which ability does what leads to a lot more strategy and thinking than most Halo veterans are used to. More Halo 5: Guardians Facts Three epic worlds, epic battle, and epic scale A gripping story full of new and returning fan-favorite character, and introducing enemies that will change the Halo universe forever. The ability to play through the entire campaign either solo or with up to three other friends online through seamless drop-in/out co-op on dedicated servers. Make your team a deadly weapon, by commanding them with Halo 5: Guardian’s Fireteam AI or team up with friends online and experience the story through the perspective of your Spartan teams. Expansive, complex battlefields designed to support more players, more enemies, and even more intense, epic-scale battles than ever before. Kayla’s final initial thoughts on previewing Halo 5: Guardians. "Tons of new abilities for campaign AND multiplayer that will change the way people play, but there’s still enough that feels true to the Halo franchise that OG players aren’t going to feel abandoned. Definitely some new game types that I know are going to suck every minute out of my days when it’s released. And of course I’m excited to see the storyline play out. We got a pretty good preview that sparked some feels, so I’m ready to see where they go with it! Is it October yet?"